Even before all the embers have been extinguished and families allowed assess the damage done to their homes and neighborhoods, the Caughlin Fire in southwest Reno is already stacking up as one of city’s – and region’s – most devastating infernos.

But whether it’s been the worst, biggest or costliest is a more complicated answer.

Former State Archivist Guy Rocha says it depends on how you measure it, including the number of fatalities, acres burned and the cost of putting it out and properties lost in the blaze. Plus, there’s no “handy dandy” list of fires through Nevada’s history, so comparisons can be difficult to come by.

After burning about 2,000 acres Friday, Rocha said the Caughlin Fire will likely go down as the largest “urban wild land fire” in Reno’s history as well as one of the costliest, with a price tag that is already being measured in the millions. The blaze also claimed one life, a 74-year-old man who suffered a heart attack during the evacuation early Friday.

Rocha said it’s important to look at the history of fires in the context of the entire Carson Range, from Minden all the way to Verdi.

“So many people have moved into the foothills of the Carson Range with all that fuel,” he said. “You’re going to have situations like this occur periodically. This shouldn’t be unexpected.”

The most similar fire to the Caughlin Fire would be the Waterfall Fire, which destroyed 21 Carson City structures in July 2004. So far, the fire that is ravaging Reno has destroyed or partially burned an estimated 25 structures.

The Waterfall Fire also burned 8,799 acres, still the region’s largest “urban wild land fire”, and ultimately cost $9.2 million, which in 2004 dollars would translate to more than $11 million today, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Inflation Calculator.“I think we can say one thing definitively, the Waterfall was bigger physically,” Rocha said.

Rocha said the “worst” fire in Reno’s history could arguably be the March 2, 1879 fire that destroyed 50 acres of businesses and homes in north Reno – a considerable portion of the 11-year-old city at the time – and claimed six lives. It’s also a reason why bricks became such a popular building material in the decades that followed.

Another deadly Reno fire was the April 1962 Golden Hotel fire that killed six. The deadliest fire in Reno history was the Oct. 31, 2006 Mizpah Hotel fire that killed 12 people, though the deadliest fire in Nevada history (and second deadliest in U.S. history) happened at the MGM Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on Nov. 21, 1980, which killed 87 people and injured 679.

As for hefty price tags, 22 buildings in the unoccupied Alexander Apartment complex burned in August 2009 because of suspected arson, resulting in $30 million in damage.

And perhaps one of the most expensive blazes in Nevada history burned down much of Virginia City on Oct. 26, 1875. Rocha reported in his 2003 article, “Getting Fired Up”, that insurance companies claimed $10 million in damage at the time. Measured in 2011 dollars (using the value of the dollar in 1913, the farthest back the BLS tracks such information) that’s roughly a price tag of more than $229 million.